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Gainsborough Cycles has been a stalwart in its community for more than two decades. Rebecca Bland speaks to the shop’s owner Trevor Halstead.
This piece first appeared in the December edition of BikeBiz magazine – get your free subscription here
For 25 years, Trevor Halstead has been at the helm of Gainsborough Cycles, a friendly shop in Lincolnshire that’s hard to miss. With bright yellow and blue walls, and plenty of character, the shop, and Halstead, have become part of the local community.
But stories of longevity, particularly where the shop has had the same owner over two and a half decades, are unfortunately not necessarily the norm any more.
The cycling industry is volatile and unpredictable, with some shops even pivoting to more workshop focussed activities in an effort to adapt to online bike giants and discount prices that they cannot match.
So what’s different about Gainsborough Cycles? Halstead and his shop assistant, Dan Nicholson think that it’s because they try to do things differently to everyone else, starting with simple things like the overall design of the shop.
“I like to be unique, I like to be different,” added Halstead. “I’ve got antique old bike shop signs outside. I like to try and make myself different. When I moved here I had a few people flabbergasted because I painted the shop yellow, as yellow and blue are my trading colours.
“I wanted the shop to stand out. So people now know the yellow and blue shop on Ropery Road is Gainsborough Cycles. I also believe in merchandising and having a very presentable shop when people look through the window or walk through the door.”
Investing wisely
Like most cycle shops, Gainsborough Cycles saw a boost during Covid, which they used to make improvements to the business rather than buy in a lot more stock.
“We used that year to make a lot of improvements to the business and keep ourselves in good stead. I’ve now got another room which was previously a waste of space and turned it into another showroom so all my stock is laid out. Now, I can show people to a shelf if they want a particular part, and I can take them into one of my three store rooms. We’ve also got a delivery van which is all liveried out, which I had done during Covid.”
While sales of bikes in general have fallen during his tenure, Halstead relies more heavily on the workshop side of things, but not at the expense of keeping a decent stock of product.
“We do retail well, I have no plans to go workshop only. I know a few businesses have done [it], but I’m a big believer in a traditional cycle shop where you walk in and see a selection of bikes, and a good accessory package.
“And I don’t have six brands of lubricants or cleaner in, I focus on one product. I like British brands when we can get them. I’ve got numerous quality British companies and products in the shop and I always like to know where that product is coming from when I’m picking and choosing what we stock.”
Something for everyone
Choosing what is stocked is not an easy task when cycling has become such a varied sport. From mountain bikers to commuters, Halstead tries to cater for everybody, and does so by treating customers as individuals, not just cyclists of a particular category.
“Every person who comes into the shop is not judged on who they are or what they’re riding. Whether they’re on a cheap mountain bike that needs a lot of work doing on it or coming in on a racing bike, everyone who walks through the door is taken as they are.”
It’s this personableness that keeps customers coming back for more – that and the vast knowledge of Halstead and Nicholson, who has been with the shop since he left college 15 years ago.
Yes, the shop caters to club riders, like those from Gainsborough Aegir Cycling Club (of which Halstead and Nicholson are members), but it also provides discounts to running clubs on nutrition and other sports clubs.
Halstead is keen to point out that cycling isn’t just a ‘commodity’ to him and Nicholson, it’s a way of life – and that’s what keeps customers engaged.
“I started riding when I was about 17. I started exploring and realising how fantastic cycling was and it’s really just grown from there. Cycling is a way of life to us, not just a commodity. That goes for Dan and myself, cycling is just a way of life. I live for it.”
Adapt and overcome
Having such a passion for cycling isn’t uncommon in the industry, but it certainly helps owners to keep going when times aren’t as easy to predict as previously. Halstead has spent a lot of time adapting his business, including being able to track and trace all repairs that come into the shop.
“All my bikes [are bikes] that I sell so every single repair that comes into the shop [has] been done in the past. I can go to the computer, I can look at a system and I can find the history of that particular bike, and what work’s been done on it.
“When Covid came along we used that time to make a lot of changes. We now keep a lot of data as to what areas in the shop are performing via spreadsheets and data and we know every section of the shop. I haven’t got EPOS, because we’re too small to work with EPOS, but we do know the sections of the shop that are performing or not, and then we can tweak those and improve them.”
Having seen multiple cycle shops nearby open and close in his time on Ropery Road, it’s fair to say Halstead and more recently Nicholson have a good grasp of how to maintain business in such an unpredictable industry.
“I do work extremely hard to keep my profile in the town. I like to think that I’m part of the town and part of the community. And at 65, I’ve got the shop running the way I like it, so I’m not looking to retire.”
